Yes it has

"The PC revolution has devoured its children," writes John Robson in 'The National Post'.  It certainly has and I am ashamed of today's wimpy, wishy-washy, constantly offended younger generation.  Apparently, words of advice given Brian Mulroney by his father, now part of a tribute to the ex-PM at St. Francis Xavier University, were so offensive the president had to drop to full grovel mode and apologize.

What were the words?  "The only way out of a paper mill town is through a university door."  That's what Mulroney's father told him.  But whoa, the offense taken by just one student was enough to make the entire administration eat a big handful of mud, rather than stand up and be proud of one of its illustrious graduates.  (I wasn't a fan, but you can't deny his accomplishments.)

"As a social worker in training (of course, it's a social worker), I need to speak out against oppression and discrimination," said this silly girl.  "Just because post-secondary education is your idea of success, that (sic) doesn't mean that (sic) it's everybody else's.  Living in a paper mill town is not an obstacle that (sic) you need to overcome," she whined.  Judging by the number of "sic's" I had to use in just one sentence, this ninny needs to spend more time cracking a grammar book than taking offence at nothing.

"Might I suggest this sentiment is just a tiny bit 'judgy'," writes Robson. "In fact, taken seriously this argument devours itself as well as its offspring," he adds.  "In the brave new 'how dare you' world, everything and everyone is either offended or offensive.  Nobody can prefer anything or dislike anything.  Which makes them incredible quick to put everyone down, including erstwhile allies."

"The extreme sanctimony and narrow-mindedness of the PC movement, however cloaked in non-judgmental tolerance, means they are very good at tearing things down, including statues of Sir John A. Macdonald, but they are lousy at building anything because they're so angry and negative.  It's grotesque," he concludes.

I wholeheartedly agree. 

The usual tommy rot from this woman

No sooner had Cindy Blackstock, children's advocate for natives, extracted $40,000 for every child taken into care since the beginning of the world, she was bemoaning the fact that the government was appealing the ruling.  Does anyone realize how much money that is going to cost Canadians -- on top of the billions already given!?

Interviewing her, Joyce Napier asked where and when would it stop?  That was a brave question, but Cindy just ignored it and moaned on about water.  Huh!?  As always I ask myself why were these children taken into care in the first place?  That's a question no one dares ask because the answer would be unpalatable, to say the least, for the natives.  Here's Cindy whacking away on CTV yesterday:

The government has to appeal this because it will cost us more billions.  This has to stop somewhere, but as long as Cindy and her ilk are gainfully employed in the "industry", it won't.

Do you think to feds will win this one?  Gawd, I hope so.

  

She'll be great. Not

So, Chrystia Freeland is to be named deputy PM and minister of inter-governmental affairs.  You know what I think of her, a disaster.  Just saw her strolling up the lane to Government House sporting her usual smug smirk, messy hair and too-short-too-tight outfit.  Not a second thought about anything.  Ever.  Here she is, with Clown-in-Chief, in all her odiousness:

The self-satisfaction is hideous.  And don't get me started on Payette!

No clue how badly she has messed up.

Why would Trudeau -- or should I say Butts -- give her a portfolio in which she has to work with many other governments when she couldn't even close one file:  NAFTA?!  So now, instead of thoughtlessly bulldozing officials in one department, she will be a bull-in-the-china-shop with the others?  "Well, she certainly honed her diplomatic skills with the Americans putting NAFTA together, so she'll be great in this new post," said one misguided wag on CBC radio this morning.

No she won't.  Trump and Lighthizer hated her.  Diplomatic skills?  She apparently has none.  To master such skills, one has to be mindful and respectful of the positions of others.  She is not, which is why it took three years to tweak the agreement.  NAFTA has yet to be ratified in the US and with only about 10 days left in the congress and senate before Christmas, it won't be.  That's not me talking, it's people who know.  They're too busy trying in vain to impeach Trump to bother with NAFTA.  And speaking of the impeachment proceedings, I despair when I turn on both CTV and CBC and am faced with all-day-word-for-word coverage of these dreary and pointless hearings.  But when I saw the sorry procession of ministers schlepping into Rideau Hall this morning, I actually switched to the hearings.  Couldn't bear to watch the train of self-satisfied egomaniacs traipsing through the portals.  Even 'The Real Housewives of.....anything' would be a welcome relief.

I might peak out from under the sofa to see this new, gender-equal, incompetent cabinet -- just to torture myself anew.  The only positive thing about it will be for the bureaucrats who laboured in torture under the feeble, smug, inept and unimpressive Climate Barbie.  They will no longer have to.  Instead, they'll have a fresh, new mess to contend with.

Wonder what moniker Barbie will be given in her new portfolio?  Since it's "infrastructure", I think I'll dub her "Concrete Barbie".
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p.s.  I have been saying this about Freeland for years, but finally a respected journalist has agreed.  Read Konrad Yakabuski in today's Globe; finally a little truth and vindication.



 

Women in the office

"Where do you fit in because I don't hear your name," said a DG of Personnel to me many years ago when he took over as my boss.  Turns out, he was a real jerk.  He didn't last, but I did.  The first thing he did was build an outer foyer to his office so no one could get past his bulldog secretary and anywhere near him.  I mean, seriously, this guy was head of HR and didn't want to deal with people?!

Totally political, his attitude and actions did him in.  Me?  I outlasted a lot of his type and managed to hang in until I got a nice pension.  A few years after he disappeared, I saw him schlepping around the lawn-and-garden department of a local supermarket in Ottawa.  I went up and asked him what had happened?  He walked away; I was still employed, he was not.

That's what one did in the federal government.  One kept one's head down, kept the field agents happy and did all the "beneath me" jobs no one else would.  I volunteered as the Floor Warden and the Health and Safety rep, which afforded me a parallel network when my various (female) bosses were giving me a hard time.  You should have seen me during fire drills, with my helmet, flashlight and high heels directing the evacuation of the building.  Hilarious!

I remember once charging $14 to our cost centre for some health-and-safety signs and getting an officious email from my then manager (female) asking by what authority I had charged this?  She wasn't actually "asking", she was informing me I had had no business charging $14 without her famous approval.  What did I do?  I forwarded her email to the ADM on the committee with me, who promptly sent me his cost centre number and told me to charge it to him. 

She looked like the insecure b-tch she was and it was fun outing her.  See, that's what I mean, I had a backdoor channel to this ADM because I did jobs no one else would.  Every few months, for instance, I had to go to all floors with a device that checked the microwaves to be sure they weren't leaking.  Stuff like that.  You get the picture. 

So, it was with mixed feelings that I read yesterday of the untimely death of one ADM (female) I worked for.  Only 68, she had been parachuted in for various political and gender reasons, I presume.  When she arrived, she held a now-hear-this meeting with all of us and then never spoke to me again.  That was fine because I ran a field program and was just as happy to have no interference from her "type".  She was just another example of a woman who didn't like certain other women, of whom I guess I was one.  Years later, I used to see her at our golf club and she actually had no clue who I was?!  Totally ignored me, as she had in the office.  But I did post a notice on her obituary simply offering "condolences to the family".

Another woman for whom I worked in Fisheries and Oceans also died recently.  She really hated me, to the extent that she ordered me to leave the office and never return.  So, I had a two-month free holiday until I was picked up by an ADM at the Office of the Comptroller General to do an in-depth study on the value-added of the OCG.  Not much, it turned out.  What fun it was chairing meetings this woman had to attend about projects we were undertaking, but I guess not fun for her.  Another RIP in order here.

When I think back, every, single woman I worked for did not like me.  Often it was because they didn't like the ugly stench of truth which usually hung all over me.  One incident in particular I remember concerned the disastrous 1-800 lines at the CRA.  They were always busy and inaccessible back then, which was duly reported by field agents to the program I ran.  Passing these realities up the line (I also had an agent in the deputy minister's office) often caused big trouble because no one -- Gawd forbid -- ever told the minister the truth about the latest eff-up in the field.

One Friday afternoon (Friday was always the day the report went up) I was called into our DG's (female) office to have a strip torn off me about the 1-800 line issues.  Really?  Really!  Me!?  Leaning over her desk I said, "Last time I checked, M, I was not responsible for the 1-800 lines.  I neither designed nor installed them.  You did.  Is that all?"  And I left.  Sadly, another case of a woman trying to blame another for her own mess.  Instead of helping female colleagues climb out of the stereotypical ditch, many women chose to stomp all over them as they tried to come out of it.  Close to retirement, I was in a lovely "untouchable" position and thus able to say anything.

When I retired, I just walked out of the office, after saying farewell to colleagues I had loved working with.  No party, no dinner.  Nothing.  But I was given a booklet with the most wonderful messages from many, many field agents, who had written heartfelt tributes to me for my work with them over the years.  Now that was worth keeping.         

What do I always say?  Women are their own worst enemies.             

Don is right

Don Cherry was correct in admonishing any Canadian who doesn't wear a poppy on Remembrance Day.  All Canadians must.  Even if you don't want to, wear one because those who made the ultimate sacrifice did it so you could not wear one.  (I know that doesn't make sense, but you get my drift.)

And will he walk it back?  Bloody right he won't.  B and I had many family members who served; some came back, others perished.  Sportsnet was stupid to fire him because if they were trying to make it go away, it certainly won't now!  The people who watch hockey and Don will remain loyal.  As a matter of fact, viewership actually rises when he comes on and drops off when 'Coach's Corner' is over and the game resumes.  Frankly, the only reason I watch out of the corner of my eye is to tune in when Don is on.  Ron was a pussy to abandon Don and grovel.  But, we all know the one with the balls is Cherry.

We know what he meant when he said, "You people."  He meant people who clamour to get into Canada, but don't wear a poppy in gratitude.  In fact, I did my own little unscientific survey at the Y this morning and found that what Don said was absolutely correct.  In spite of the fact that people think Calgary is a cowtown full of white cowboys, it's not.  Calgary is very multi-cultural and multi-racial.  After my swim, I sat around for a while just to see who was wearing a poppy and who wasn't.  I did not see one non-Caucasian wearing a poppy.  Not one.  If you are going to be a Canadian, adopt this practice and observe Remembrance Day with respect and gratitude.

Here are some of our family heroes:

My father, Thomas Raymond Griffith, head of the rubber lab at the National Research Council.  He was instrumental in inventing synthetic rubber -- vital to the war effort.  He had 250 patents to his name, which made millions for the country.  One of his patents was rubber shoes for prop planes which were electrically conductive so ice could be prevented from building up during flight.  This saved countless lives.  His work was so vital he was not permitted to go the the battlefield.  RIP.

B's great-grandfather, father (right) and great uncle.  All served in India with the Irish Hussars.  If they look tough, they were.

My uncle, Major Roland Marcel Brousseau, who served in Italy in WW II.  He made it home, I loved him dearly.  

B's uncle, Clive Desmond Marley-Clarke, a captain in KE VI's Own Gurkha Rifles.  Killed by a sniper in Italy at 23.

B's parents, Captain Ivan Frank William Marley-Clarke, and Diamond Iris Thelma Walsh.  Ivan was torpedoed twice by the Japanese in the Indian Ocean.  He would not ride in a Japanese car.  I loved the man.

Ivan was a Master Mariner of Canada.  

  

Tone deaf

That's Andrew Scheer.  Instead of separating his religious beliefs from his political life, he doubles down.  As a politician, you have to separate "church and state".  But he didn't and he doesn't. 

After a seven-hour caucus meeting, he emerged exactly as he had gone in.  Sticking with the staff who had done him in and avoiding all questions about gay marriage and abortion.  Sorry buddy, you can't win with those attitudes. 

The other thing he said was, "My personal beliefs come first, then my family, then the party."  Stupid.  That may be what you think, but you can't have those priorities as the leader. 

He has to go.